So I'm re-doing the gardens. Our house came with extensive gardens and we've determined that there's a lot missing (empty holes) and a lot of things the same. My husband borrowed a Mantis and went to town on some of the things that kinda took over. Suggestions? I want to keep things so that it's easy to weed (right now it's hard to pull the weeds out from existing since it's a wild mess, I know people like that but I don't) so areas of plants/flowers and mulch are first. And also I have small things in behind big things I'd like to do some shifting of plants once I figure out what is where, what colors they are, and nix redundancy (for example I have at least 8 hostas. 2 different types. 6 of them are the same).

Growing up my mom had a beautiful flower garden. If she had duplicates of anything it was in different colors. Lots of separation, you could see everything. So pretty. That's what I want. Lots of color. Spring-fall.

This is garden 1 of 4. I'm nixing one next year. This front garden and the "island" at the front where the driveway is are being tackled this year. The garden along the road in the back of the house will be a next year project.

Is this your first year in the house/garden? If so, I would start by drawing out your existing layout showing existing plants (and work to identify what you have if you don't know).

Remove the stuff you really don't want, and then rework your plan to include plants you like, that work in your zone, and have similar needs for water, sun, soil and then what colours you like as well as when in the season they flower, etc. Once you have a list of preferred plants, then start shopping for them.

By staggering the bloom time through your seasons, and varying the colours you will start to achieve the garden you want, but really it takes time to find what you are after and best place for it all.

I have been working on developing and renovating beds in my yard since 1998 when we bought the house. I am just getting to the point where I can say, I have most of the big work done, and don't need to add much more. (my hubby thinks this time will never actually arrive, sort of like a mirage in the desert).